Last Thursday I got pulled over by the Newtown police. I was more curious than worried. I had just pulled out of my driveway and turned the corner at the end of the block. I had noticed that there was a cruiser sitting at that intersection, so I thought that I had better actually stop at the stop sign, instead of "rolling through" as I do more often than not. (Don't judge, you know you do it too!) As soon as I turned the corner the flashing lights came on and I pulled off to the side of the road. The officer approached the car as I was trying to fish out my license and registration.
"A stop sign means stop," he says to me. "You didn't roll back," he continued.
OK, yes, technically he was correct. I didn't feel the car roll back, and so, technically I didn't stop. (It was a lot more of a stop than I normally did at that intersection!)
I couldn't help but draw some spiritual parallels to this situation. We know that God is watching. We know that He is aware of every turn, every move, every decision we make. Yet we choose to plow carelessly through life as if we will never be held accountable for those actions. Somewhere along the line, we have to admit to ourselves, a sin is a sin is a sin. Paul said "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." It's that "falling short" part that should worry us. Just trying to "reach" for the standard doesn't cut it. Just having "good intentions" doesn't work. Just attempting to be a "good person" holds no weight.
All of us struggle with sin. And when I say all, I mean all. No one reading this blog has avoided sinning; and I can fairly safely say, unless God calls you home, that no one reading this blog will be free from sin in the future. We'll all continue to fall short. Now we know that God has promised us forgiveness for our sins. Clearly that is what John said in 1 John 1. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. . ."
How does this impact our serving in worship ministries? It impacts our serving dramatically. It throws off our relationship to the one we are attempting to serve. It diminishes our effectiveness in helping others encounter God. How can we help people encounter God if we are out of sync with him ourselves?
God does not want us to be playing games with our spirituality. He does not want us just to come close, he wants us all the way.
So the end of the story. . . I got a warning. No ticket. Ah, the glory of grace!
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2 comments:
I dont know Ray--You're a fairly larcenous looking character. You sure you dont get pulled over more often? Those Newtown cops dont have much else to do.
Ray, I'm normally not a bloggers but felt compelled to my imput. I agree a sin is a sin no matter what the severity of it is. This was an issue I had with the Catholic religion when I was growing up. They characterized sins in different levels. I often got into verbal battles with the teachers over this issue as well as others. True God is everywhere and is always keeping tabs on us, but why do we continue to fail. I think we as human beings are afraid to act on faith and instead we deal with the natural. We focus so much on what we can see and feel and neglect what we can't see.
"We should walk by faith not by sight"
Art
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